Clinical Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory CCNL Overview

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Clinical Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory (CCNL)
- Overview

• Director Jeffrey S. Bedwell, Ph.D.
• Assistant Professor
• Clinical Ph.D. Program, Department of Psychology
• University of Central Florida

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Background of Main Line of Research

• Previous research has suggested a dysfunctional
  magnocellular (M) visual pathway related to
  schizophrenia.
• Literature from basic vision research has
  demonstrated that diffuse red light suppresses
  activity in the M pathway.
• Initially shown with single-cell recording in
  monkeys
• Later inferred in humans via performance changes
  to M pathway tasks with a red background

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Initial Findings First-Degree Relatives of
Persons with Schizophrenia
Visual Backward Masking with Red Background
z 2.77, p .01, Cohens d 0.66
Bedwell, Brown, and Miller (2003) Schizophrenia
Research
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Findings in First-Degree Relatives fMRI with
Red Light
Group difference in change in relative right
hemisphere V5 (MT) in response to a red,
compared to green, background, t 2.43, p .02,
Cohens d 1.00.
Controls (N 11)
Relatives (N 13)
Bedwell, Miller, Brown, and Yanasak (2006)
International Journal of Neuroscience
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Aim of Current Study

• While this red light effect has been
  demonstrated in first-degree relatives no
  published research as explored this effect in
  individuals with schizophrenia.
• Hypothesis Individuals with schizophrenia will
  show the opposite reaction of accuracy in
  backward masking performance in response to a
  red, relative to green, background as compared
  to controls.

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Demographics Current Study

• Schizophrenia inpatients (N 15)
• Age mean 39.59, SD 10.87, range 26 to 60
• Gender 12 males, 3 females
• Race 10 Caucasian, 4 African American, 1
  Hispanic/Latino
• Nonpsychiatric Controls (N 16)
• Age mean 42.36, SD 11.00, range 24 to 60
• Gender 10 males, 3 females
• Race 10 Caucasian, 3 African American, 2
  Hispanic/Latino, 1 Asian

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Location Backward Masking Task
Target (13 ms)
Mask (27 ms)
9 stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) durations
12 trials presented at each SOA (random selection
by trial) Also, 12 unmasked trials Task presented
on both a red and green background (matched for
physical luminance) counterbalanced order by
participant
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Results
Bedwell, Orem, Rassovsky, Allen, and Sutterby (in
press) Psychiatry Research
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Results from Schizotypy Sample
Bedwell and Orem (in press) Cognitive
Neuropsychiatry
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Future Directions

• Explore whether green light actually helped to
  fix baseline M pathway hypoactivity in the
  schizophrenia participants.
• Addition of a third, gray, comparison background.
• Use event-related potentials (ERP) to explore the
  relative strength of M and P pathway activity
  within each color condition.
• Explore group differences
• Conduct heritability studies on this effect

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Other Research in Lab

• Olfaction and emotion processing in schizophrenia
  (Vidya Kamath)
• Cognition and emotion processing as related to
  delusion symptoms (Diana Orem)
• Neuropsychological correlates of social phobia
  (Scott Sutterby)
• Neuropsychological correlates of chronic stress
  in older adults (Diane Petrac)
• Two new grad students to focus on schizophrenia
  Doug Dykstra and Andrew Deptula